Facing a punishing shortage of public transport and empty pockets, budget-strapped holidaymakers are turning to trucks and pickups to make it home for Eid, rendering the official ban on such travel a mere paper rule.
While traveling this way is highly dangerous and gruelling in the blistering sun and pouring rain, financial hardship ultimately dictates the terms, turning a risky gamble into the only available option.
Tragically, the joy of returning home has already transformed into profound grief for more than a dozen of families from various northern districts.
Early Monday morning, 15 people lost their lives on the Dhaka-Tangail highway when an iron rod-laden truck overturned. They all shared the simple dream of celebrating Eid with their families, but it is a homecoming they will never see.
Road and transport expert Md Hadiuzzaman told TIMES of Bangladesh, “Low-income people are essentially held hostage by transport fares. It is impossible for them to afford tickets that cost one and a half to two times the regular price during the Eid rush.”
Rahela Akter, a garment worker in Dhaka originally from Jhenaidah, is one such commuter left stranded by skyrocketing prices.
“We can’t always find buses, and we certainly can’t afford black-market tickets at those prices,” she said. “So, for the past three years, we’ve been heading home by truck.”
Passengers noted that this dangerous practice is not limited to Eid. Trucks and minitrucks routinely unload cargo and take on passengers for their return trips, and low-income commuters willingly ignore the risks just to save money.
This scene plays out every year across major workers’ hubs in Dhaka – including Kaptanbazar, Chawkbazar, Gabtoli, and Karwanbazar – as well as at various filling stations and highway checkpoints.
Habibur Rahman Khan, DIG (Administration) of the Highway Police, told TIMES, “Low-income workers risk their lives in trucks to save money. Where a bus ticket costs Tk1,500 to Tk2,000, they can negotiate a truck ride for just Tk300 to Tk400.”
When asked why law enforcement failed to prevent the practice, he pointed to the nature of the Tangail tragedy. “The workers were sleeping inside a truck loaded with iron rods. From the outside, there was no way to tell passengers were hidden inside.” He added that stopping and searching every truck late at night during the peak Eid rush risks causing massive, gridlocking traffic jams.
However, DIG Habibur admitted that the loss of 15 lives demands stricter enforcement, stating he has ordered increased surveillance to stop cargo vehicles from carrying passengers.
Currently, the Highway Police are operating at full capacity, deploying 2,500 of their own officers alongside 1,000 additional personnel from the APBn and district police.
Unfortunately, this is not the worst truck disaster in recent memory. On 11 July 2011, a pickup truck carrying students home from the Bangabandhu and Bangamata Gold Cup football tournament at Mirsarai Upazila Stadium in Chattogram overturned and plunged into a pond.
Forty-five people drowned, including 43 children. Among the young victims, 34 were students of Abu Torab High School, while the rest attended various schools, colleges, and madrasas across 11 villages. Some died instantly, while others succumbed to their injuries days later. Today, two memorials named ‘Antim’ and ‘Abeg’ stand at the crash site and in front of Abu Torab High School to honour the young lives cut short.
Where lies the solution?
Transport expert Md Hadiuzzaman told TIMES that a public transport crisis during Eid is an unavoidable mathematical reality. “The combined capacity of our buses, trains, and launches falls drastically short of the massive exodus from Dhaka,” he explained. “If roughly 80 lakh people want to leave the capital, but our total transport capacity is only 30 lakh, a vast number of commuters will inevitably resort to risky alternatives like train roofs or cargo trucks. This cannot be entirely prevented by enforcement alone.”
Saidur Rahman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, pointed out that systemic flaws have worsened the crisis over the years.
“Because the government’s own public transit network has weakened, our reliance on private transport operators has shot up. This has given rise to unchecked fare hikes and general chaos,” Rahman said.
As a long-term remedy, Rahman suggested strengthening the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), renovating railway networks, increasing train frequencies, and modernizing water transport to alleviate pressure on the highways.
However, structural overhauls take time. For an immediate remedy to the holiday rush, experts suggest utilising idle public resources. During major holidays, hundreds of buses belonging to the police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar, and various government ministries sit completely unused. If even 60% of these government vehicles were deployed to carry public passengers, low-income commuters could travel with a baseline of safety and comfort.
How the Tangail tragedy unfolded
To minimise traffic congestion during the heavy Eid rush, authorities had banned trucks, covered vans, and lorries, excluding livestock carriers, from the highways for a total of six days. The ill-fated truck, however, bypassed the restriction through a loophole.
Tangail Additional Superintendent of Police Fauzia Habib told TIMES that the truck had departed from Chattogram and was heading toward North Bengal. At around 4:30 AM, as the vehicle reached the Saratail area of Kalihati on the Jamuna Bridge approach road, the driver lost control. Within moments, the truck veered off the highway and plunged into a roadside ditch.
“Suddenly, the truck started swaying violently,” said Abdul Rahman, a passenger who miraculously survived. “Before I even realized what was happening, it overturned. Then, there was nothing but screaming and wailing. Many people were pinned underneath, crushed by the heavy iron rods.”
Upon receiving the distress call, the Elenga Fire Service rushed to the scene. Station Officer Atowar Rahman told TIMES that rescue workers recovered 15 bodies from the crash site. Nine injured passengers were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Tangail General Hospital.
The victims shared a close bond; all of the deceased and injured worked together as itinerant traders, buying old mobile phones in the Chaumuhani area of Noakhali. They were heading home together to various districts across North Bengal.
Remarkably, nine of the victims hailed from the exact same union. From the Barshon union of Manda in Naogaon, the deceased include six residents of Rajendrabati village: Mohammad Tarek, Mohammad Abdul Barek, Mohammad Badsha, Mohammad Sohag, Mohammad Rabiul, and Mohammad Sagar. The same union lost Mohammad Mainur Islam from Murshidpur village, alongside two brothers, Mohammad Mainul and Mohammad Gias, from Pakuria village.
The crash also claimed the lives of two pairs of fathers and sons: Sariqul and his father Saidul from Niamatpur upazila in Naogaon, and Ismail Hossain and his father Altaf Hossain from Tanore in Rajshahi. Nazrul from Shibganj in Chapainawabganj, and Mamun from Dinajpur Sadar upazila, also perished in the accident.
Sultan Hossain, the grief-stricken father of the deceased Tarek, told TIMES that local buses were demanding an exorbitant fare of Tk1,800 per seat. To save money, the group decided to board the cargo truck together.
“Everything was over just to save a little money,” Sultan said, breaking down in tears.
